


i'll tell you today, i hope we'll be okay

by kwonjis



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Clumsiness, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 00:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16074809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwonjis/pseuds/kwonjis
Summary: yuta wants to apologise. sicheng just wants to survive one school year without winding up in the campus clinic.





	i'll tell you today, i hope we'll be okay

**Author's Note:**

> yes i'm back with my FOURTH nct fic this month i literally don't know how but these ideas keep coming and my fingers keep typing so here's to hoping that this creative streak continues!
> 
> [ title taken from the song 'and july' by heize feat. dean ]

“I swear, you must actually hate me.” Sicheng sighed tiredly as he struggled to straighten up the other student. Yuta grinned widely, eyes glazed slightly as he looked into Sicheng’s wary ones.

 

“You looked really cute in that Stitch hat,” He giggled before booping Sicheng on the nose with a finger. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for ages.”

 

Sicheng groaned internally. He was going to have to ask Taeil to take down that photo. “Thanks, I guess,” Sicheng muttered, hoisting the other student up by the armpit and trying to get him to lean against the fridge instead. But no matter how much he tried to pry Yuta off him, he wouldn’t budge. He clung onto Sicheng insistently, nuzzling his face against the other’s shoulder affectionately. _He’s like a cat,_ Sicheng thought.

 

“You smell good,” Yuta’s muffled voice commented. Sicheng looked down in dismay to see the older student with his face in Sicheng’s sleeve.

 

“Okay,” Sicheng said firmly, using one hand to push the other’s head away from him and wriggling out of his grasp. The Japanese student stumbled a bit before catching himself against one of the countertops. He pouted at Sicheng, and Sicheng tried not to let himself feel affected by how _cute_ he looked doing that.

 

“I’m not gonna get to talk to you again, am I?” His tone was ridiculously sad, as if Sicheng had told him that his favourite pet had died.

 

Sicheng grudgingly filled a cup with water. He wasn’t an asshole. The poor guy looked like he needed something else to drink that wasn’t alcohol or whatever toxic concoction Johnny and Jaehyun had created hours earlier. “Why does it matter to you? I don’t even know you.” He wondered out loud as he pushed the cup into the other’s hands. The Japanese boy held the cup with both his hands, looking at it with such reverence Sicheng would have thought he was praying if not for the sniffling he was doing.

 

“But I know _you_ ,” He said mournfully. He looked up at Sicheng with the biggest, saddest, and prettiest eyes Sicheng had ever seen. _Shit_. “And I think you’re really, really cute. And you dance so well,” Yuta hiccuped a bit before continuing his drunken speech. “And I also want to say that I’m sorry for hitting you on the head with my sign.”

 

Sicheng couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing or seeing. Their university’s star soccer player, heartthrob and most passionate activist was drunkenly rambling about feelings that he had apparently harbored for Sicheng for who knows how long.

 

As far as Sicheng was aware, the two of them had never been formally introduced. They had first encountered each other during Sicheng’s freshman year when Sicheng had been sprinting across the campus to get to his first dance theory lesson and Yuta had been picketing about increasing funding for the arts programmes outside the administration building.

 

Sicheng had figured he could slip by behind Yuta since there were less people blocking him from that direction but the latter had turned last minute, picketing board swinging around and hitting Sicheng square in the face and knocking him onto his back. He’d woken up in the campus clinic with a throbbing head and the hazy memory of someone with wide, beautiful, panicked eyes looking down at him before he had lost consciousness.

 

Taeil had never let him live that moment down and Sicheng learned that his accidental assailant’s name was Yuta.

 

The two of them met a few more times after that. Sicheng would have preferred it if their encounters didn’t end up with him in the campus clinic. But he must have done something to piss off some higher power because he always ended up mildly injured every time he crossed paths with the Japanese student.

 

The second time they met was during one of Jaehyun’s soccer practices a few months after the picketing sign incident. Jaehyun had asked Sicheng to wait for him so they could walk back to their dorm together after practice and the latter had agreed to stay only because breathing in fresh air and looking up at the clear skies was a better alternative than sitting in the stuffy dance studio while he worked on a routine for his upcoming dance assessment.

 

Sicheng had hit a productive streak, ideas flowing from his brain and onto his choreography notebook as he sketched out formations for his group while he listened intently to the song they had chosen. He’d been so absorbed with what he was doing that he failed to hear the alarmed shouts of the players on the field.

 

He looked up just as he saw something coming fast at him from the corner of his eye and he felt something hitting him hard in the head before everything went black. When he regained consciousness he found himself lying in a bed in the campus clinic. Again.

 

According to Jaehyun, who had carried Sicheng’s knocked-out body away from the bleachers, the team’s star striker had aimed a kick a little too far to the left, resulting in the ball speeding towards where Sicheng had been sitting. “Yuta wanted to come with me but coach started one of his infamous lectures. He wanted me to tell you he’s really sorry.”

 

“Yuta?” Sicheng had repeated, mind still a little disoriented from the hit he had taken. “Him again?” He mumbled too quietly for Jaehyun to hear.

 

Sicheng had decided that maybe Yuta didn’t like him all that much. So Sicheng did his best to avoid the other student, reasoning that he preferred not to risk getting injured again. A small part of him told him he was being illogical, dramatic about the whole thing. But for some resdon Yuta seemed to always be around. He had tried and failed on multiple occasions to get Sicheng’s attention and to talk to him but the slender Chinese boy would always find a way to slip away before he could reach him.

 

“Why are you avoiding him? He probably just wants to apologise,” Taeil had said through a mouthful of chips one afternoon.

 

“It’s been ages since the soccer incident and even _longer_ since the picketing incident, I don’t really get why he would bother,” Sicheng had shrugged, snatching the bag from Taeil’s hands and popping a chip into his mouth. “Besides,” He swallowed. “I’m not interested in landing myself in the clinic again. I’ve done a pretty good job so far keeping myself safe and it’s already been 3 months since sophomore year began and 5 months since I started avoiding Yuta.”

 

“You’ve kept an awfully accurate record of your time with Yuta. Or your time _avoiding_ Yuta, I should say,” Taeil commented. Sicheng had chosen to ignore this retort and went back to the game he’d been playing on his handphone.

 

Sicheng wasn’t blind. Yuta was hot. Ridiculously hot. And Yuta was aware of this fact. It was the only explanation Sicheng could come up with for Yuta’s strange love for tank tops. He’d glimpse those toned arms around the campus from time to time, taking them as a cue to flee in the opposite direction.

 

Yuta also had the most charming smile. Sicheng had discovered this when he had stopped by the locker rooms to drop off Jaehyun’s soccer shoes (again) and saw Yuta laughing at one of his teammate’s jokes. Sicheng had felt something funny in his chest before he turned on his heel and hurried off before Yuta noticed him.

 

So yes, Yuta was smart, extremely talented and driven, passionate about numerous causes, and had the smile of an angel and arms that made Sicheng feel like he needed to douse himself with holy water.

 

You couldn’t really blame Sicheng for having the tiniest crush. The only thing that had stopped Sicheng from even considering pursuing what feelings he had was the fact that Yuta had ended up accidentally sending him to receive medical attention whenever they were in the same place for more than a minute. And Sicheng _hated_ going anywhere near medical establishments, never mind that this was just the campus clinic.

 

But now, as he looked at Yuta genuinely spilling out his feelings, Sicheng couldn’t help but think that maybe he’d been a bit hasty about avoiding the other boy. Maybe he should have given Yuta the chance to talk to him, to apologise to him properly.

 

Karma seemed to agree with Sicheng’s line of thought because a few seconds later, Yuta doubled over and retched up a stream of whatever he had to eat and drink that night all over Sicheng’s new sneakers before looking up at Sicheng with wide, glossy eyes full of shock and the faintest hint of tears.

 

 _I suppose I deserved that_. Sicheng thought with resignation.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Apparently he won’t shut up about wanting the earth to swallow him whole,” Taeil commented breezily as he squeezed out every last drop of ketchup from the tiny sachets the diner provided.

 

Sicheng swiped some fries from Taeil’s tray and popped into his mouth. “Who won’t shut up?” He asked, mouth full. Taeil decided to give up and dropped the sachets on a pile of napkins. He looked at Sicheng with amusement dancing in his eyes.

 

“Yuta.”

 

Taeil laughed loudly as Sicheng choked on the fries in his mouth upon hearing the name. The Chinese boy glowered at him as he furiously gulped down some water. “Yuta doesn’t ever shut up though,” Sicheng said pointedly. “He’s like the head of the student union or whatever.”

 

“Well, I heard from Johnny that Yuta kept looking for you after you fled from the party last night.”

 

“I did _not_ flee,” Sicheng said hotly. “I wanted to make sure I got my sneakers clean before all that puke set into them.”

 

“Of course,” Taeil cooed. He dodged the fry that Sicheng threw at him before taking a sip of his soda. “He’s probably gonna try look for you again. You know, to apologise? You should give him a chance.”

 

Sicheng chose not to respond and took a sullen bite out of his burger. “I guess I should,” He said after a moment. “He seemed genuinely sorry last night when he was blubbering in the kitchen.”

 

“So you’ll hear him out?” Taeil asked eagerly, leaning forward in his seat. Sicheng shrugged and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

 

“Yeah, I mean why not?” _I think I should also apologise for avoiding him._

 

Taeil clapped his hands together, startling Sicheng slightly. “Great! He just walked through the doors, I think I’ll leave you both to it then.”

 

Sicheng felt the blood drain from his face as he turned around to look at who Taeil was smiling at. He whirled back around and glared at his friend. “What the hell?” He hissed. Taeil winked at him before sliding out of his side of the booth.

 

“He’s all yours,” Taeil told Yuta with a cheeky grin. Yuta looked a bit embarrassed, eyes darting to where Sicheng was seated briefly before he gave Taeil a nod and a quiet ‘thanks’.

 

Awkwardness settled in as the two of them sat across each other, neither one saying a word. Sicheng could feel Yuta’s eyes on him and he found that he couldn’t bring himself to meet the other’s eyes. He could feel that Yuta was dying to say something but was holding back, for once.

 

“Look,” Sicheng started, breaking the silence that had been weighing down on both of them. “I’m not mad about the whole puking on my shoes things. It happens, I get it.”

 

Yuta looked a little relieved by this. He shifted slightly in his seat and rested his arms on the surface of the table. “Sicheng, I’m really really sorry,” His tone was extremely gentle, different from the energetic one Sicheng was more accustomed to hearing when Yuta was out fighting for whatever cause he had deemed was of value for the week or when he was calling out for his teammates during a soccer match. “I know this isn’t the first time I’ve done you wrong and I feel so horrible about it. You probably really dislike me too, that’s why you’ve been avoiding me all this time. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable at Johnny’s party, that was really awful of me.”

 

 _Oh no._ Sicheng looked at the sadness etched across Yuta’s handsome features. _So he noticed after all._

 

“Yuta, I’m sorry for running away like a coward. I should have given you the chance to explain,” Sicheng said, keeping his eyes on the table. He could see Yuta shaking his head from his peripheral vision.

 

“I get it, you probably thought I was some crazy bad luck charm or something,” Yuta joked. Sicheng could hear his tone getting brighter as he carried on. “I’m just glad I got to properly apologise for everything I’ve done. Is there anything I could to maybe make it up to you? A favour or something? We could be friends, if you’re okay with that. If not, that’s cool too I-”

 

“I know how you can make it up to me,” Sicheng interrupted, looking at Yuta. The other boy looked at him earnestly with those beautiful, beautiful eyes.

 

“How?” He asked, leaning forward. Sicheng swallowed, feeling his heart start beating at quadruple its usual speed.

 

“You could give me your number?” He said quickly, looking away in embarrassment. He could feel his cheeks getting warm and he refused to look at Yuta’s reaction.

 

A warm hand slid over Sicheng’s own, squeezing it gently and causing Sicheng to jolt a little. He looked back at Yuta with wide eyes to see Yuta giving him one of his trademark, swoon inducing smiles.

 

“How about I give you my number _and_ you let me take you out for dinner tonight?”

 

_Oh._

 

How could Sicheng say no to that?

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys liked this one!
> 
> i'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/taemintys)♡


End file.
